Angel Fire

by Ron Franscell

Book Overview

Twenty-four years after his brother's death in Vietnam, Cassidy McLeod is drawn back to their Wyoming hometown by a mysterious phone call and faces a harrowing reunion with his past. A beautiful novel of family love and loyalty. -- Library Journal.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425177718
• ISBN13: 9780425177716
• Release Date: December 2000
• Publisher: Berkley Books
• Length: 287 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.2" x 7.1"

Customer Reviews

A beautiful book about life, love and memory

I was introduced to Angel Fire as part of my university's Western literature course last fall. It is one of the most moving books I have ever read as part of my classroom work which is usually pretty boring and hard to manage. But this book was totally different and is an awesome example of symbolism, totally real characters and had a beautiful message all wrapped up in a story I couldn't put down! The Vietnam parts were really graphic and made it hard for me to sleep for a few nights, but it wasn't there for a thrill because it ended up being an important part of the total story. My mother died one year ago and when Cassidy MacLeod loses his mother i literaly started crying because it was a perfect expression of a child's grief. In the end, Ange Fire helped me comprehend life and death in a way I might never have seen on my own. This is a book I will read over and over again as I grow older because there is a lot of good lessons for living a good life where "pain is the price we pay for memory." Thank you, Mr. Franscell, for this book. I hope more people read it again and again.

Absolutely fascinating!

There's something about this book that made me read it straight through when I bought it. Ron Franscell writes wonderfuly about childhood and family and growing up in a small town, and the horrors of the war, as other critics have pointed. But this book is about more than that. It's about storytelling, and writing. Cassidy and Daniel's father is a newspaperman, they both grow to be reporters; ever since childhood, Daniel told Cassidy stories, so many stories.Being a journalist and an aspirant writer myself, I was fascinated not only by the story but also by the way the story is told and the stories told inside the story.Being a journalist and an aspirant writer myself, I was fascinated not only by the story but also by the way the story is told and the stories told inside the story.A book to read and reread forever.

Fantastic Flashbacks

I've never read a novel that made me cry - a few movies have done the trick, but never a novel. I still haven't. But Angel Fire came as close as any to date. Ron not only opened a vein to write this book, he opened up the depths of his heart to create a wonderful tale that weaves love for family, the magical moments of growing up in small town America in the 1950s, and the tragedy of war into a excellent plot. The story centers on Cassidy McLeod, a disenchanted writer and journalist from San Francisco whose father had been an editor and publisher of a small town newspaper in Wyoming. Cassidy's life is shaken when his revered older brother, Daniel, a war correspondent presumed killed in the Vietnam War, shows up in his Wyoming hometown in 1995. Cassidy puts his life on hold to care for Daniel, who is all but catatonic from horrific war experiences.The particular strength of the novel is in its flashbacks. Usually, flashbacks are considered a fiction taboo, especially for an inexperienced novelist. The theory is that all they tend to do is slow down the plot.That's anything but the case in Angel Fire. The flashback chapters and scenes are compelling, unforgettable stories in themselves that establish the powerful emotional bond Cassidy has for his brother. When that bond collides with the tragic circumstances of 1995, it creates the stuff of which unforgettable stories are made.The flashback scenes represent writing and storytelling at its finest, capturing the innocence of the post-war 1950s, the essence of hometown newspapering and the aura of growing up in a small town as well as any novel I've read. Ron's style flows as smooth as an AP wire story, and he has an excellent instinct for compelling detail and vivid description, both executed without slowing down the story. Many literary writers complain that their work is ignored in favor of the Tom Clancys, John Grishams and Danielle Steels of the writing world. But in many cases literary writers create beautiful prose and then forget the most critical element of any work of fiction, whether it's literary, a romance, a thriller or a mystery. They forget to tell a good story.Ron Franscell doesn't forget to tell us a good story. In Angel Fire, he tells an excellent story that elevates and embraces the humanity in all of us.

"Pain Is The Price we Have To Pay For Memories"

Angel Fire is a wonderful book which I will urge everyone to read. The love these two brothers shared as children and then again as mature adults will delight every reader. The stories Daniel told his little brother to help him avoid feeling sad added to the warmth of the story. The author wrote "Pain is the price we have to pay for memories" and it moved me to tears. Anyone who was grieved can we relate.

Natural Born Storyteller

Ron Franscell is the master of his domain--words and Wyoming. Angel Fire is a novel of perfect symmetry that details the destruction of one village in Vietnam and the survival of another in the Western Plains of Wyoming. Mr. Franchell's story is told through the lives of two brothers whose journey takes them into the dark places of a collective soul and reveals a bond that goes beyond time and space. The story is told with compassion, grace, and a master's use of the language. Reminiscent of N. Scott Momaday's, House Made of Dawn. Pulitzer material!